


one wing in the fire

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [22]
Category: African Diasporic Mythology, Christian Myth & History, Native American Mythology, Norse Mythology, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-18
Updated: 2011-09-18
Packaged: 2017-10-23 20:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/254710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You are a pretty bird," Coyote continues, "but we already have Raven. You'll need a different name." He nuzzles in, nosing against the junction between chin and neck. "You could be someone else's Raven," he says, nipping at Gabriel's skin. "Across the ocean, they have no sense of humor. You could teach them."</p><p>Unconnected drabbles about Supernatural's favorite trickster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. my intent is but to play

**Author's Note:**

> Title: my intent is but to play  
> Fandom: Supernatural/mythology  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Chaucer  
> Warnings: AU for both history and mythology  
> Pairings: Coyote/Gabriel  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount:385  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Supernatural, Gabriel, It all started with an introduction. "My name is Loki"

Gabriel is missing. Gabriel is dead.

o0o

He doesn't _Fall_ , not exactly. He leaves Heaven fully intact, still bathed in pain and rage, and turns his back on everything he was and is and the family that won't stop fighting—but Father lets him go.

Father lets him go as an angel.

But he can't be known as an angel, because Father won't strike him down. Father won't protect him, either. He knew that when he left.

(Father let Sammael go, too, and now only Lucifer remains. Only Satan. Once beloved, once the greatest, and now...)

He cannot be Gabriel anymore. He knew that when he left, too.

o0o

Humans are glorious. He does not worship them, and he does not love them, and they are not his superiors, but they _are_ fascinating creatures. He was the first to ever speak to them, and after leaving, he does deliver one last message for Father.

Humans look at him with so much wonder, when they know what he is. He likes that expression. And he is still the best at blending in.

o0o

There is a god that lives in an almost untouched land. Gabriel spends time with him, wandering from ocean to ocean. Their humor matches up, and they prank each other daily.

"I know what you are," Coyote tells him one night, curled up together beneath the moon.

Gabriel's wings twitch, just out of sight. He doesn't react beyond that, and, god or no, Coyote can't have felt them.

"You are a pretty bird," Coyote continues, "but we already have Raven. You'll need a different name." He nuzzles in, nosing against the junction between chin and neck. "You could be someone else's Raven," he says, nipping at Gabriel's skin. "Across the ocean, they have no sense of humor. You could teach them."

Gabriel breathes out, a noisy sigh. "What gave me away?" he asks, freeing his wings to wrap around them both.

Coyote laughs.

Three days later, Coyote's howl ringing in the air around him, Gabriel crosses an ocean and goes to a frozen land where they have need of a trickster.

o0o

Gabriel is missing. Gabriel is dead.

He smirks up at a god who is nowhere near as intimidating as Lucifer, thinks, _Coyote, boy were you right,_ and says, "Call me Loki."  
 


	2. The truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet up with other tricksters, little guys without much punch. All of them look at their trickster with wary eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: The truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind  
> Fandom: Supernatural/mythology  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Dickinson  
> Warnings: AU; spoilers for season 5  
> Pairings: pre-Sam/Gabriel  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 295  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Supernatural, Gabriel/Sam, they never found out he was anything other than a Trickster.

They meet up with other tricksters, little guys without much punch. All of them look at _their_ trickster with wary eyes.

Coyote shrugs. "Some of us are more," he says, which doesn't explain a thing. "Me and Loki and Anansi - we're the big boys."

0o0

When Azazel's game almost kills Sam, Coyote yanks him away.

When Sam tries to go after Lilith, Coyote convinces him there isn't a single worse idea in the world.

When some douchebag _angel_ of all things goes after Sammy, Coyote meets him head-on and the angel recoils.

"No mere _trickster_ ," the angel hisses, "could have so much power."

And Coyote... he looks cold. Dangerous. And he says, "Hello, Uriel," in a voice neither of the Winchesters has ever heard before.

"I am Coyote," their trickster says, standing in front of them, arms spread like wings. "I am Anansi. I am Loki. These boys are _mine_."

"No," Uriel murmurs. "It cannot be."

Coyote swings his arms in, hands slamming together in thunderous clap. Uriel howls, wind whipping into a frenzy around him, and when it dies down, the angel is gone.

"Holy fuck," Dean mutters, and Sam gingerly reaches out to touch Coyote's shoulder.

"s'alright," Coyote tells them quietly. "We need to go."

The brothers share a look. Coyote waits, staring into the distance. Dean nods and Sam smiles. "No mere trickster, huh?" Sam says.

Coyote says nothing. Sam uses his grip on Coyote's shoulder to gently turn him, and once their eyes meet, Sam says, "I'll ask again later. Will you answer?"

After a moment, Coyote nods.

"Good," Dean says. "Let's shag ass, get some ground between us and that douchebag."

Coyote smirks. Both Winchesters pretend not to notice how sad it looks, or the shadow of wings arching overhead.


	3. the desert wind is rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel slips under the radar until the Winchesters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: the desert wind is rising  
> Fandom: Supernatural/mythology  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Adrienne Rich  
> Warnings: pre-series; AUish  
> Pairings: none  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 375  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Supernatural, Gabriel/Sam, he's more Trickster than angel

Gabriel is different from other every angel (fallen and not) for a very good reason: he isn't one anymore.

o0o

It's not just the pranks. No matter what Zachariah and Uriel and all the other fun-lacking douchebags say, there _is_ humor in Heaven. Look at giraffes and platypuses, for Father's sake.

Michael and Lucifer used to pull the funniest shit, back Before. Gabriel watched in awe, wishing he be could half so good.

He's better, now. It still hurts.

o0o

Coyote taught him, right after he first left. Treated him like a pup and showed him the ropes. Sent him off to Anansi for the final lesson. He didn't quite manage to trick the Spider, but he came damn close. Closer than anyone since Coyote left for his own territory, back when the world was young.

 _We are old,_ Anansi says, spinning a web. _Older than you pretty birds think. Old as the land, as the sky. This is our world, the dirt and the water. When the time comes, warn your flock, little bird. Warn them._

Anansi is terrifying, sometimes. When the time comes, Gabriel forgets.

When the time comes, he hasn't been Gabriel for longer than he was.

o0o

Gabriel slips under the radar until the Winchesters. He's famous as Loki, trickster of the north. He does lunch with Coyote and Anansi twice a year. He's had an on-going relationship with Kali for three thousand years, and it's about to end in fire.

He wants to hate the Winchesters. He really does. And looking at them, at Sam's earnest expression and Dean's true regret (the first meeting), he realizes that no matter what anyone says, no angel can hate them.

Not even Zachariah, though he'll say otherwise.

o0o

In the end, Gabriel reclaims what was his in the beginning. He _is_ an angel, one of the greatest. But he is so much more than that, and Lucifer… he is still an angel. Fallen, yes. Smart, oh yes.

But Lucifer is not a trickster.

Coyote howls and Anansi spins a web, and Loki pulls off the greatest trick yet: he makes Lucifer believe he killed his younger brother.

o0o

Kali summons every god left. Loki attends the meeting.

Lucifer killed the Archangel Gabriel.

Loki is no angel.  
 


End file.
